How do I move on?
by TheBlueBomberBoomer
Summary: When ness realizes a few of his best friends couldn't come to smash, he finds himself in a depression. Will he find a way to move on by interacting with some of the newcomers?
1. Gone

It was a late night outside the Smash Mansion. The moon stuck high in the sky like it was just a glowing ball drifting upon the clouds, like they were a river. Inside one room on the second floor was a young boy, who was lying on a neatly made bed. He looked barely thirteen in age, with short, jet black hair. He was wearing a blue and yellow striped shirt, and his red baseball cap was resting nearby atop a baseball bat, while a backpack lay on the floor. He just laid there, staring at the ceiling. He was Ness, a teenage boy from the town of Onett. He had returned to the Smash Mansion once again. It was barely a day after receiving an invitation once again to spend who knows how long fighting alongside other fighters of various powers skills and abilities. He was born with psionic powers, otherwise labelled as PSI, and a few tools for his combat style.

"This really happened…" Ness exhaled. He had a minor fear before coming to the mansion, aside from lying to his family about where he actually left for. He was so far receiving the same treatment as before when he received a smash invite, even the exact same room, though he got two letters resting on his night stand, already opened and read. Those letters had rattled him, making the reunion with the other smashers a little unenjoyable. He reached over to one of the letters and picked it up, dangling it in front of his eyes.

"Dear Ness,  
>The others offered to tell you for me, but I know it wouldn't make you feel any better, and I'm sorry I couldn't tell you in person. But I didn't get an invite this time around. I still remember all the fun times we had before, and I'll do my best to write you every week, even if I'm not there. Don't let it ruin your fun. – your old pal, Lucas."<p>

Ness had read that first letter at least three times. Attached to a paperclip on the end of the letter was a picture of a boy with blonde hair shaped like a drop of vanilla ice cream, who wore a red and yellow striped shirt in the photo. He was holding a baby sheep in one arm, showing a peace sign with his free hand. Ness took the picture and put it away in his pocket before going to reread the second letter, like he had some obsession to read them multiple times, which he thought would provide him some form of misreading. But he was starting to accept the truth.

The second letter's writing looked like it had been written by someone that couldn't hold a pen still.

"Dear Ness,  
>We hope you're well. It's been a long time since we last saw you and it probably will be longer. Something came up and we aren't able to accept our invite. Keep that smile up! We all were good friends, but we'll see each other again! – from Popo and Nana."<p>

It was all written, at least what he could make out of the slightly frost bitten handwriting. Attached to it was another picture. It was of a girl in a pink Eskimo outfit, holding a hammer on her shoulder. In the background another Eskimo in blue was dangling from a rock, looking a little panicked. Ness smiled viewing the picture. The background depicted a very frozen mountain. Just a usual for the Ice Climbers. He pocketed the photograph, too. He had been locked away in his room for at least four hours since he arrived. "Do I even wanna bother with the dumb party…?" he questioned himself further, looking to the window. A party was a tradition to celebrate the returns of everyone. But Ness felt guilty. He felt like he didn't deserve to come back this time, but he was unsure if that was just a thought from his minor depression.

Ness decided to think on what the others would do if it was him gone instead. He let out a deep sigh. "Well… if Lucas was here, he'd meet the newcomers and try to enjoy the party," he thought. It was going to begin soon anyhow, and there were a lot of new fighters to meet. He was aware that staying cooped up in his room sulking wouldn't make him feel better. He grabbed his red baseball cap and fixed it on his head, the blue brim at its usual spot at the left side of his head. Ness then exited out of his room and into the mansion, hoping tonight would go well.


	2. Villager

Ness had made his way downstairs. The halls were mostly empty on the upper two floors. He rubbed his head, trying to stay positive to looking forward to meeting new people. But he had no idea where to begin, let alone where to find the newcomers. His thought process was broken when he bumped into someone. Before him was a woman in a bright pink dress, her blonde hair being a light color that practically glowed. "Oh, Ness! What timing. Can I ask you of a favour?" she asked the young boy. "Yeah, Princess Peach. What is it?" Ness nodded. She was Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. She enjoyed meeting all the people at these events. It was a great experience to her on top of learning how to fight better, he always enjoyed the food she baked.

"I asked one of the newcomers to get a box of utensils from the basement. But he's been away for a good while now. Can you go check on him?" the princess requested. She was assisting a lot in setting up the party. He knew the friendly ruler was probably worried for him, mostly hoping him heading for his room upon receiving those letters was just to rest. "Yeah. Can't wait for the party," Ness nodded before heading off down the hall, not minding any task that could get his mind off his current train of thought.

It didn't take long for him to find the basement. The door was wide open, and through it was just a staircase down to a big storage area, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Downwards, he saw a boy with brown hair in a red shirt that had the number #1 symbol on the front of it. He was casually running around with a net, smacking it against the floor in various places. "Uh… hi. Are you okay?" Ness got the boy's attention, assuming him to be one of the newcomers.

The boy pointed to nearby. An oversized spider was creeping about, its size at least big enough to creep out anyone in the mansion. "You're trying to catch it?" Ness asked. The boy in red nodded before running over in an attempt to grab it in his net. He missed, and as result it skittered away toward the stairs. Ness, being quick, pulled his hat off and slammed it on top of it, trapping it. "Whew… got that," he sighed in relief, letting the newcomer come over ness lifted up his hat and let him immediately place a jar on top of the spider to entrap it.

"I'm Ness. It's nice to meet you…" Ness introduced himself, shaking hands with him. But no response came out of the newcomer's practically sealed mouth. He was active and responsive. Just not talkative. The psionic teen assumed he was a mute. He scratched his head, trying to think of how to talk. It had been a while since the last cleaning, so the walls were moderately dusty. He pointed to it, his associate nodding and beginning to write by drawing the letters through the dust. "I'm Villager…" Ness mumbled out. The boy was indeed named Villager. But it seemed like it was oddly just Villager. Ness saw the box of utensils that Peach had sent the villager to acquire. He picked it up at one side, the newcomer helping him by holding the other side of the box. The whole box itself was sort of heavy.

While they carried the box to the kitchen, Ness decided it was time to strike up solo conversation with the Villager. "So… what did you do back at your home?" he attempted to query the Villager. The Villager used one hand to dig around in his pocket, and he showed a small star-shaped medal that had a short sentence attached on the bottom of it; "Congrats to one year of Mayorship." It was some award he had received shortly before accepting the invitation. "Oh…! A mayor. Usually anyone in power is a prince or princess…" Ness chuckled half-heartedly. At least he was getting responses, but he was making a mental note to find some pen and paper for the Villager. They were relieved to reach the kitchen, plopping the heavy box down on one the counter.

"Thanks for helping out, Ness," Princess Peach spoke to the two. Villager stepped in front of Peach, and showed the spider in a jar that made her back up a step, but fearfully giggle. "Oh… that's a… big catch. Why don't you two go do something while we finish setting things up," she suggested, not wanting the spider to be anywhere near her. Seeing it alone just sent a fear through her. "Okay," Ness accepted. He didn't mind spending more time with the mute. He left the kitchen area, Villager following behind him, but leaving the spider in its jar back at the kitchen for the princess to deal with, much to her fear.

Ness had wandered outside the back of the mansion alongside his cohort. "So what do you like to do?" he questioned, hoping he wasn't annoying the newcomer Villager in any way, aware he enjoyed catching bugs at least. The Villager dug around in his pocket for a second before suddenly producing a fishing rod from it. The raven haired boy did his best to keep a straight face. "…you have deep pockets," he commented before being handed the rod that had a red paint job. He watched the Villager produce a second fishing rod with a yellow paint from his other pocket. It was obvious what the Villager wanted to do. "There is a small pond a little ways out," Ness claimed, pointing to the nearby path that could lead them into an area, which was heavily infested with trees certainly, but at the time of day it was a nice hike in nature. Anything to take his mind off his missing friends was grandly appreciated, even if it meant practically talking to himself.

Villager gave a thumbs up, so far glad to have made a friend already. The two set off so they could kill some time fishing.


	3. Party

Ness had walked with the Villager a good distance into the wooded area. He was going off old memory, but it seemed to be exact as they had finally arrived to a decent sized pond that was reflecting the light of the moon on it. "So are you happy to be here?" Ness tried to continue conversing with his new mute friend. Villager nodded, happy as ever here. He pulled back his rod and cast his fishing line, watching it fly into the water surface. Ness' bobber shortly plopped into the pond afterwards. He knew from here on it was just sitting and waiting for a bite to snag his hook. It felt relaxing to not be worrying about anything, just sitting and waiting for a reward from the pond.

Ness exhaled. He had to keep the conversation up himself. He wished he had found something for his associate to write on. "I know this might be personal. And you can ignore it if you want. But is there anyone you miss from home?" the red capped boy questioned. It was a constant nagging feeling in the back of his head, hoping that voicing it would resolve it sooner. Villager gave another nod. He dug around in his deep pockets before producing a photo of an anthropomorphic dog alongside the mayor. It appeared to be a picture taken at a birthday party. He flipped the Polaroid over and showed to Ness some writing on the back of it. "I'll do my best in your place while you're away! But you do your best too! – your assistant, Isabelle." Villager returned the photograph to him.

"She must be a hard worker…" Ness commented, having heard the comment be made about his own mother, often by his father over the phone that sometimes felt awkward. Villager smiled, seeing the picture. Clearly the assistant had been more than just loyal. It probably made things easier for him when his mayoral duties overwhelmed him, though Villager had his focus too much on the photograph. "Hey, I think you have a bite," Ness pointed out. Villager's eyes opened back up and snapped out of his own thought. He tugged as hard as he could. Whatever was on the end of the line, it was fighting back. Ness watched him reel a decent sized bass out of the water.

"Wow. Nice catch," the red capped boy smiled. He felt somewhat more cheerful, seeing his new friend be happy. His memories seemed to just make him feel better. Villager did a lot of fishing alongside his bug catching, though Bess was oblivious to the debt his friend had back at home, a thing preferably kept secret, but a lot of things were learnt just to work out a payment plan at all for it. Getting away from it all was a relief for the silent combatant.

Ness spent a good while just catching fish and releasing them with his cohort. He wasn't the best at fishing, but it was relaxing nonetheless for his mind, though after barely an hour together, they heard a loud bang in the sky. Looking above, they could see the night sky that was being illuminated by bright colourful fireworks of various shades and styles. "Looks like the party's starting," Ness pointed out, Villager smiling before putting away the fishing rods. They hadn't kept any of the fish they caught. They just caught and released. He excitedly began to run off alongside Ness to get to the party.

The two had arrived back to the Smash Mansion easily. At the rate they had ran at top speed, and both of them were panting from the long run. "This should be fun," Ness said as the two entered the mansion's empty hallway before they began to hear the sounds of cheering and laughter. The noises were various, but they could see that the once empty big room was now filled with various tables and the sound of music being played calmly for the party. All types of people could be seen around the room, and they all seemed to get along with one another, decently anyway. He could sense an underlying atmosphere of hate amongst some of the more obvious smashers, and that of course was expected. Ness watched Villager walk off to go meet others. Ness didn't mind letting his friend go before walking to the table that had plates of food lining it along with a huge, baked cake in the centre that had an edible smash ball on top of it for decoration, and the whole flavour of it seemed to be vanilla.

"Wow… Peach outdid herself," Ness smiled. It looked better than last year's. His smile faded though when his memory began to wander to the past. But he shook it off, hoping ignoring it would make him feel better. It felt nice that he could recognize a majority of the people, at least. Just then, Ness saw something odd. It was a tiny yellow star that was eating a shiny looking rock. He saw the star float up to him, its little eyes showing. The star let out a giggle before spinning around and grabbing his hat with its fingerless arm. "H-hey!" Ness swiped at it, but just missed. The star immediately flew off to another part of the room. He chased after it presuming it was just playing keep away on him.

Ness was panting by the time he had finished running through some crowds of smashers. His gaze was affixed on the star when he finally found it again. He saw a woman in a light blue dress with a small tiara on her head with long light blonde hair that seemed just as radiant as the star in her hands that was still dawning his hat. "I believe this is yours?" she spoke, her tone of voice being calming and welcoming like his own mother's. "Y-yeah… hi," he greeted her, assuming she was one of the newcomers. He took his red cap back from the star and fixed it on his head. The young star seemed pretty happy to have enjoyed some running around with the young boy.

"I'm Princess Rosalina, and this is Luma. It is nice to meet you," the woman introduced herself and the star, being Princess Rosalina, a woman from the stars. Ness raised an eyebrow. He had not expected another friendly princess to be a newcomer, but he didn't mind them one bit. The Luma just had a constant happy look to it. "I'm Ness. Welcome to the mansion," he welcomed her, finally catching his breath back. Rosalina smiled. The constant friendliness of most of the smashers was unexpected for her.

"Would you like to sit down?" Rosalina offered. Ness saw the nearby table. He nodded, pulling out one of the chairs for himself. Chasing a star really drained him, especially after the earlier run to the mansion with Villager. Ness looked forward to the rest of the party.


	4. Rosalina

Ness found himself sitting at the table beside Rosalina. Luma was resting in her lap, enjoying being caressed by her. Rosalina herself had been telling the young boy a little more of herself. "So you raise a lot of those little guys?" he asked, hoping he had understood her so far. A woman from the cosmos was interesting, mostly because anything from space he had encountered had attempted to murder him and his cohorts a while back. "Yes. I was going to refuse the invite when I first received it. I didn't want to leave them alone. But Princess Peach insisted the toads could handle them. I wasn't really assured until he convinced me to come," Rosalina explained how she wanted to turn down the invitation at first. Ness saw her bright eyes gleam over to the left. He raised an eyebrow, looking at the same direction she was. Rosalina was looking at a man with a slightly big nose, wearing a green shirt and hat that had a big L on it. He was also wearing blue denim overalls. But he was engaged talking to other smashers to notice the two.

"Luigi? You came because of him?" Ness had to ask. The Italian plumber wasn't bad, but it sounded weird that he was the one that convinced her. Luigi was more of a cowardly shy type, obscured by his brother's shadow. "Yes. The way he got along with the Lumas… and how he talked… it just felt more reassuring to me. The shy stutter in his voice as he told me about some of his friends here was just enjoyable to hear," Rosalina answered, while Luma seemed happy. The princess felt embarrassed a little over the admittance. The conversation did get somewhat quieter. Ness looked at the slice of cake in front of him that had a strawberry resting on top of it. He had been interested by what she told him, saving a galaxy with Mario and Luigi's help. It did sound stressful, but she showed no outward signs of the past disturbing her.

"Tell me, Ness. Do you miss your family?" Rosalina questioned, so far enjoying conversing with him. Ness just sighed. "Friends and family… I get homesick a lot, but the others cheer me up," Ness claimed. Homesickness was a grand issue with him. His depression over Lucas and the Ice Climbers not being around already was hard enough to get over, but missing his mother, sister and friends, and even his dog, upset him even more. But the smashers were like another family to him, so he did have help overcoming the homesickness. He grabbed a nearby fork, and took a small bit of the cake to consume.

"You said you've accepted all the invites since the beginning. What made you do it?" Rosalina continued to query. She enjoyed getting along with him. He was a lot more mature for his young age. Even then, it seemed that all of the young smashers were. Ness cast his gaze down, trying to think back to the first invitation. He didn't like thinking back around that time. "I got it when I came home from an adventure. I didn't accept it for three days. I had made new friends, seen a lot of scary and beautiful places, but my best friend went insane and tried to kill me… a lot. And in the end, I had to hurt him, and afterwards, he fled when we started winning. I never saw him again," Ness began to tell the story of his friend. Porky, a neighbour he had helped a lot and enjoyed time with. But that time, Porky, that plump neighbor of his, sadly had gone evil, and just plain insane, in his loyalty to that evil alien lord, Giygas, that Ness and three friends once defeated.

Ness dug around in his pocket before showing the picture of Lucas to her. She did find the blonde boy in the image cute, at least. "That's Lucas. He couldn't come back. But he told me Porky may as well be dead… I pretty much ran away from home when I got the first invite. I didn't tell anyone anything. I went back home six months after," Ness finished his explanation, feeling his emotions starting to take over him more. Thinking back then, when there were maybe eight smashers at most, fighting amongst each other, and now there were a lot more. That was certainly unexpected.

"I'm sure he would only want you to remember the good memories. I miss my family as well. But there is always someone that will be there. Whether they be animal, human or Luma," Rosalina told him, Luma floating out of her arms and spinning happily. Ness couldn't help but get a smile, seeing the small star's attempts to lighten the mood. Her words felt a lot more reassuring, due to her reminding him of his mother. Just then, the two of them saw Luigi approaching the table they were at. "Hey, Ness. Mind if I borrow Rosalina? Peach wants the four of us to catch up," Luigi requested the princess, mostly to catch up on how things have been since they last saw each other. Rosalina nodded before getting up, Luma floating closely to her. "I hope to talk with you again, Ness," she bid him goodbye before walking away, smiling, looking forward to spending time here.

Ness looked down at his plate. He had consumed the cake without noticing much himself, though he had skipped breakfast and lunch. He could see Villager at another direction, who was hanging out in more of a group of adult smashers, though he clearly wasn't adding anything to the conversation.

Ness got up from his chair. He decided to exit the party. He didn't want to fill his slight depression just by scarfing down sweets. Ness, though, barely got a few doors down before his ear started catching the sound of some weird music blaring from behind a pair of double doors. He opened one of the doors and proceeded inside. Here he found a room that was equipped with plenty of training equipment lying around. It was all but a gym, as far as his eye could see. Just then, he spotted a short looking figure, shirtless with black hair, who was bench pressing a heavy weight. And a woman with black hair in the shape of a ponytail, wearing a sweatshirt and yoga pants. She was stretching, upon leaning back she caught a glimpse of the young boy. Stopping her stretches to welcome him.

"Oh, welcome. Are you here to join us in exercising?"


	5. Wii Fit Trainer & Little Mac

Ness just stared for a second, a bit creeped out by the girl's appearance, especially the skin tone that was like she had been dipped in a paint bucket. He took a short time to process her query. "Huh? O-oh no… Hi. I'm Ness," Ness introduced himself to the very fit woman. She came off very friendly from just the meeting between the two, but she looked strong enough to break someone's arm with one snap. She smiled and rubbed his head with her hand. "I'm Wii Fit Trainer… but you can call me what you want. And this is my friend," Wii Fit Trainer started, but midsentence, she got cut off by the young boy, who was stunned to the core. "Little Mac?!" the red capped boy said in awe, recognizing the familiar black haired short adult in a black shirt who had just finished a set of reps on the bench.

"Ness! Hey! Look at me now, moving on up in the world," Little Mac laughed, smacking his old acquaintance on the back hard, rattling the preteen's lungs. Little Mac used to be nothing more than an assist trophy, who aided in the summoner's combat. But now he had received a full invitation, and he was already excitedly training. "How've ya been? Last time I saw you, Kirby was winnin' til I gave him a good right hook," Little Mac asked while sitting on the bench. Wii Fit Trainer was glad the two were happy to see each other, though the young boy came off more stunned over it. "Oh, uh… great. Glad to see you're finally getting in the ring more," Ness got over his initial shock, glad the former championship boxer was getting to fight more on his own now, instead of just merely assisting in a fight.

"But yes. Would you like to join us? The only thing we have left for now is stretching, but you're welcome to join," Wii Fit Trainer said, aware he had probably come from the party. Ness did feel like he needed some exercise today. All he did was sit around pretty much beyond the time he spent with Villager. He found himself standing on a small yoga mat, He was unsure whether to be afraid or not. Sometimes his mother did this to try and keep her age from getting to her, but he never really was interested. Ness saw Wii Fit Trainer lay flat on her back.

"Just do what I do," she reassured him to just follow along. Ness nodded, lying flat on his back, too. "Let's begin with something simple," she put her hands on her leg before beginning to pull her knee to her, bringing her upper leg toward her body, while keeping her lower leg bent down. Bess did his best to mimic her and Little Mac, but when he did it with just one leg, it felt like his muscles protested and ached already. He assumed it was from a lack of proper exercise. He just hoped he would get over it. After doing the same to his other leg, they both felt somewhat looser. Afterwards they found themselves standing back up.

"Breathe deeply and keep your balance," Wii Fit Trainer continued, pulling one leg up and keeping her arms pointed straight up above her head. "This kind of hurts…" Ness muttered. His back was starting to get sore. He heard Little Mac chuckle beside him. "That's what happens. You'll get used to it," he whispered, not wanting to ruin the small amount of peace they had for the practical meditation, though the young boy was growing ever sorer per pose.

After another set of poses, Ness was lying on his stomach, moaning. He had done nothing but stretch for an hour at least. Little Mac was off cleaning up. Ness felt someone help him off the floor to sit on a bench. "You did great for a first time. Most kids aren't that healthy, but you seem to be good. Do you want to join us in our daily training?" she offered to him, curious if he wanted to get in better shape or not with them. "N-no, thanks… my friends keep me pretty fit," Ness kindly rejected. Inside, he was not even wanting to imagine most of an afternoon going through the exercise routine with them.

"Friends can be a good thing to have in keeping fit. Ever since I've arrived, I have been doing more than I ever have," she exclaimed joyfully, though how she lingered on the topic of friends peaked his curiosity. "What about your friends? Where you come from?" he tried to query about her other friends. She looked up to the ceiling for a second. "Heh… I wish. No, I didn't have friends. Just people I helped get into shape. They paid me, and I helped them. But never any real friendships came from it. Things got lonely even when I had a room full of people following my every move," she sighed. Thinking back on it was draining her a bit. She wiped some sweat off her forehead. Her energy had been more rejuvenated when she met a lot of the smashers, him being no exception to her mood.

"Well, trainer, I'm sure they were thankful for all the time you gave helping anyway," Ness assumed, gaining her attention. She looked lost in thought briefly before giggling. "I never thought of it like that… Kind of makes me homesick imagining it, really," she had to concede. She rubbed the psionic boy's head once more. "You really have brightened my mood. Are you sure you don't want to join us again?" trainer had that warming smile that Ness would receive from his mother. A lot of people certainly reminded him of her. He was glad he could feel comfortable, even when he was sore. He decided maybe some routine exercise would be a good thing. "Sure," Ness smiled. "Great! I'll see you tomorrow," she hummed before walking away to clean herself up. Ness's muscles just throbbed in pain imagining it. "Guess I better go get some sleep…" he thought, getting up, ready to fall asleep from the afternoon spent meeting the newcomers.

Ness arrived back to his room tiredly. He felt like he had overstretched his muscle, but as he remembered, he would get used to it. Ness sighed in relief, when he got on his bed, kicking off his shoes. He laid back and closed his eyes ready to drift off to sleep, just as he was then awoken by a knocking sound on his door. "Ugh… what now?" he muttered bitterly, forcing himself out of bed. He opened the door. "Can I help you?" he questioned, wanting the person to get straight to the point of what they wanted.

"Hi. I've been assigned to be your roommate."


	6. Shulk

"You're my new roommate?" Ness responded to the person at the door. In front of him stood a man with messy blonde hair and a red jacket that looked certainly odd in design. Clearly he was foreign. He had a black shirt on under his coat a weird red weapon dawning on his back. "Yes. I was told there was an empty spot in this room?" he claimed, curious if he had the wrong room. Ness opened the door, letting the blonde man inside. The room was poorly lit due to the late night, and because he had been stirred from his bed before he could even get one wink of sleep, his hair was very messed up, though his red cap rested on the nearby nightstand. "I'm Ness. I don't remember seeing you at the party," Ness introduced himself, not able to recall seeing his new roommate before now.

"Ah, yeah. Sorry, I was exploring the area when I wound up falling asleep under a tree outside the mansion. I'm Shulk. Glad to meet you," Shulk explained before shaking hands with his roommate. He took a seat on his bed, watching Ness crawl back into his, the young boy resisting the overwhelming urge to let his head hit the fluffy pillow and fall asleep. "You're one of the original competitors, right? Hope you don't mind me bunking with you," Shulk said, hoping to learn more about his roommate beyond just the few talks he had from the person that assigned him to his room. "Hey, it's fine… so, what brings you to the Smash Mansion?" Ness decided to ask. He was lying back in his bed, and his eyelids were heavy. "I wanted to try and improve my skill. Honestly, I wanted to ignore the invite, but my friends insisted I'd come," he answered, claiming that his friends at home had egged him into coming here.

Ness raised an eyebrow, wondering if his friends really wanted him to improve in combat, or if they had just wanted him to come for the sake of just getting rid of him. "Are you a swordsman?" he asked curiously. The weapon on his back didn't come off like much though, it was shaped just like a sword, except a hollow ring was above the hilt. "Yes, you can say that. But I think right now we both need some sleep. How about tomorrow, I can just show you what I can do?" Shulk offered a live demonstration for a first fight in a while. Ness didn't protest the opportunity for a brawl. "Okay. We'll do it tomorrow morning. Goodnight," he agreed before rolling over in his bed, leaving his roommate awake to do what he wanted, though Shulk could easily tell that his young acquaintance was more interested in his own thoughts than the conversation they just had. Shulk was curious, but he just decided to get the night out of the way and get some sleep himself.

The night was peaceful from there, especially when all of the fighters had retired to their rooms for the night. The calm and quiet was nice to have after a day of mixed emotions that had been his first day back.

When the sun finally had risen a decent bit into the sky, the light pierced through the window onto the young boy's bed awakening him easily. Ness groaned, reaching over to his nightstand, grabbing his red cap and putting it over his face to block the sunlight from blinding him so he could get more sleep, though something had then caught his attention from the corner of his eye before he had shielded them. His roommate had gone, but his red weapon was lying nearby the bedside. It alone roused him from his slumber. Ness sat up, fixing his cap on his head, rubbing his eyes before he approached it.

"So… this is his sword?" Ness thought while reaching for the hilt. It didn't look that sharp or even threatening. He picked it up. It was a lot bigger than any sword he had seen his friends use due to his age and small hands. Any bladed weapon had to be short for him to wield. It took both of his hands to wield it. Ness held it in front of him in the same way a regular swordsman would, taking a playful slice at the air. It felt a lot more like a toy than anything. Suddenly, he saw a weird symbol on the ring appear. "What the…" Ness soon found another sight that looked like it had some blade at the end of it of the same aura. Ness's vision got blurry and his head and arms ached. It felt like his eyesight was being stolen and forced to watch something else entirely.

All Ness could see was the inside of some odd machine. Inside was a person that looked like he had grey hair and was in overalls. His skin looked entirely pale, and his face so sunken in that he may as well be deceased, let alone malnourished. He was wheezing and coughing. "Stuck in here… forever… Why didn't I just… 'cough' 'cough' …let them losers kill me… Spankety, spankety, spankety… 'wheeze'…" the person gasped.

Before he knew it, Ness was sitting on the floor, laid back against the bed. His eyes were wide in horror, the sword lying away from him like he had unknowingly thrown the weapon. It was like he had been traumatized from the sight. Ness was being more lost in his memories that were beginning to emerge, like they all had been drawn out at once.

"P-Pokey?"


	7. Doctor Mario

Ness looked around, feeling like he had awoken a second time. He had finally calmed down after his odd moment he had alone. He saw a white ceiling and walls, and realized that he was not in his room anymore. It was the infirmary for the more critically damaged smashers to go to, or at least more critically damaged than usual. For the mansion of fighters, being treated wasn't that hard. Ness soon saw a familiar doctor with short brown hair, who was wearing a white coat with a stethoscope wrapped around his neck. "Oh good. You're finally responsive," the man spoke. An underlying Italian tone could be heard in his voice. "D-Doctor Mario?" Ness responded, remembering the all too familiar doctor who had been in the Smash Mansion as an on-and-off fighter. When he wasn't invited to join in on the action, he was there to tend to the aftermath of said action.

"And talking even better. It's good you're awake. You've been out of it for a little while," Doctor Mario implied before shining a flashlight in both of the young boy's eyes. Each eye was reactive, much to his annoyance. "When did I get here?" Ness questioned, beginning to sit up, seeing Shulk standing nearby at the doorway. "I found you sitting on the floor, and you looked awful. I brought you here," his roommate claimed, his red sword remaining on his back. It was starting to come back to Ness more now what had happened, and remembering it again depressed him further. Ness had just begun to get over the fact that Lucas and the Ice Climbers were not there, and the past decided to haunt him once more.

"It's good he did. I've never seen someone below the age twenty suffer from burnout," Doctor Mario claimed, writing idly on a clipboard. He wasn't specialized in really any medicine, but he had mostly small degrees for knowing somewhat of everything. "Burnout?" Ness repeated. Shulk was keeping quiet, but he knew what he saw, his roommate out of his mind and his sword in the floor. He had known a lot more, but he was hoping to save it for their fight. "Well, simply put, it's when the mind just shuts down and you can't think straight. It usually happens from stress and goes unnoticed. If you feel any sicker, I want you to come straight back to me, okay?" Doctor Mario explained what was wrong. Ness nodded, understanding. Because a mental breakdown just happened, he really was starting to doubt his state of mind.

"I'll keep an eye on him. Thanks again, doctor," Shulk appreciated the quick diagnosis. With that settled and Ness seeming stable, the two exited back into the hall. They had nothing but awkward silence amongst the two of them. "So… what did you see?" Shulk spoke up, catching his young roommate's attention from his current lack of thought process. "What?" Ness quirked, unsure what he meant. "I know you had a vision. You were trying to play with the Monado, right?" his blonde roommate continued. The red sword dawning on his back was named the Monado. His young acquaintance's gaze went away. "I'm not mad, but I'd appreciate it if you shared. The Monado has the ability to show visions of the future, but the blade is dangerous to those without a strong will. It's a good thing you didn't get hurt," Shulk explained the power behind his sword that was only one of many abilities that slept in the sword.

Ness was glad he now knew why he had seen what he saw, but it was a sight he wished he hadn't witnessed. "It was an old friend. He was a jerk, but he was still a great person to have around. His dad hated my dad for some money he borrowed… like a hundred thousand dollars or less… But basically, he went crazy and a good friend of mine told me how he last saw him," he talked about his old friend, Pokey Minch, the obese semi-bully that was a friend he dearly missed, even after all the fights they had when he went insane. While they were beginning to head outside, Ness assumed that his roommate wanted to still fight. "The Monado shows the future. It can be a day away or a week away or even a few seconds away. All I know is that whatever happened in the past is unchangeable… but you must do what you can to shape your future," Shulk shared his wisdom that was the best advice he had, not entirely of his own fruition either. It was words he had heard his friends share with him before, though even sometimes the future was out of their control.

Ness looked to Shulk seeing, that look in his eyes that had nothing but honesty in them, looking like he had gone through his own share of suffering and confusion in his adventures. "Now then… how about that battle?" Shulk continued as they continued to wander outside. The sun was illuminating brightly without a cloud in the sky. Ness didn't mind the still proposed offer of a combat. "Sure, and I know the perfect place! Race you there!" Ness laughed before dashing off ahead. Shulk got caught a bit off guard, finding the head start unfair, but he didn't mind. As long as his friend was happy, he was happy, too. Shulk rushed off to try and catch up, aware that he had a favoured place to fight.


	8. The end

Ness and Shulk had raced a good distance, both of them having equally sore legs by the end of the race. "Looks like I win!" Ness declared while they were standing in a desert-like terrain. His roommate was panting, feeling like he had run a hundred miles. "No fair. You got a head start," he coughed, just conceding he lost, aware that the youthful boy would have won the race no matter what he did. Shulk glanced around their environment. "So this is where you wanted to fight?" Shulk asked. His roommate nodded while wiping sweat off his forehead. "Yeah. We just fight until the other person can't fight no more… that sound good?" Ness responded. "You're on," he grinned, getting the Monado off his back and getting into his usual combat stance. Ness just kept his arms up as some form of guard. He then watched as the Monado revealed the same blue symbol, and the edge of the sword appeared. "Begin!" they both shouted at each other to signal the beginning of a brawl.

Shulk quickly attempted to slash at his opponent, the Monado dragging and leaving a slight dust trail behind it. Shulk swung upwards, Ness grabbing his baseball bat off his back and guarding with it, blocking the slash with ease. "Wow. That is one tough bat…" Shulk had to admit. Something that was wooden was strong to withstand the blow. "It's been with me all these years," Ness joked before they both seemed to be watching each other, as if attempting to predict one another. "PK Fire!" the young boy fired a red flame from his hands, watching it spew upon the ground and light it ablaze, engulfing his enemy in the fire.

Shulk looked at the Monado as it received another shade of blue on it, and a 疾 symbol appeared on his weapon. Shulk received the aura on his feet, and he darted out of the side, seeming a lot faster than before now. He had avoided a lot of the flames, luckily for him. Ness was confused by the sudden quick speed he had, but before he knew it, Shulk was in his face as he smashed him away with his sword. Ness got forced onto the ground, skidding across it. "Ow! What the…" he moaned, having gained a few new scrapes and a decent cut on his chest. "This is the Monado's power!" Shulk declared. Hearing it, Ness stood up to begin another attack. "PK Thunder!" he shouted, firing a bolt of thunder in the air. It did seem to garner his enemy's attention, but the electricity wasn't being aimed at him. He realized it was floating in a full circle, and back toward the red capped boy.

When the thunder struck his back, Ness jolted forward in an explosive charge. Shulk put his guard up the symbol on, and the Monado symbol changing to 盾, an orange aura encasing it and surrounding him. Ness collided with him, but it felt like a cannonball had just hit his chest. He got forced back, but kept his balance. "Uhhgh… dang…" Ness moaned while standing back up. He was not sure how many of those moves the Monado had, but it was getting annoying. Ness put his hands on his head, doing his best to concentrate. A big green static burst of luminous energy began to appear above his head and float toward Shulk, gradually getting bigger.

"What is that?" Shulk muttered as his aura faded. "PK Flash!" Ness echoed. The huge burst of light exploded in Shulk's face, blinding him immensely on top of a slight burning pain. He could barely see anything, before he suddenly got smacked in the face. When he regained sight, he could see Ness swinging a Yo-Yo. This time the blow hit him in the arm. For just a Yo-Yo, it felt like a rock being slung around. Before he could react, Ness was close enough to pull his baseball bat back and take a strong swing, smacking Shulk in the ribs and sending him flying backwards. He was forced onto his side on the ground then. "PK Thunder!" Ness fired another bolt of electricity that was aimed this time for his enemy. Shulk grinned, shaking his head. "Takes focus to use that stuff…" he realized, seeing the Monado lying by him. He took hold of it, another symbol, which was 翔, appearing with a green aura on it, the aura surrounding Shulk's feet right after.

Shulk jumped high in the air over the bolt and over Ness. "Back Slash!" he swung his sword downward. Before Ness even realized it, a slicing pain went through his back, the Monado slamming into the ground, having cut a long mark left on the teen's back. Ness fell over, groaning.

"You win, Shulk…" Ness muttered, accepting defeat, watching his roommate fall to the ground in tiredness. "Good fight there," Shulk insisted while covered in a good few injuries. They both looked equally as bad for their first fight. It was a tough one, though inevitably they both pretty much ran out of energy and it came down to last hits.

"How are ya feeling now?" Shulk questioned while coming over and helping him up. They regained some energy, but not much. Ness hadn't had a fight like that since he had Lucas around. Powers being used against one another left and right made it just more challenging and enthralling. The two were beginning to walk back the way they had come from to head back to the Smash Mansion.

"Honestly… a lot better," Ness claimed, aware that the fight was beyond just a friendly brawl. They got stopped for a moment. Shulk rummaged around his pocket for a second before pulling out two small hearts that looked like they were made of glass, with a weird gold encasing it. "I'm sure you've heard it before, but I'm sure ya friend wouldn't want you to remember them for what they did wrong," he reminded him, offering it as a healing item to treat the injuries they sustained from the fight. Ness looked at his new friend's eyes. He had barely met him the other day, yet he felt strongly connected to him. Ness put his hand on top of the heart, watching it vanish in their hands. Both of their wounds quickly regenerated. A quick relief for the two of them.

"C'mon. Let's go see if anyone else wants to fight," Shulk hummed before beginning to run off. Ness guessed that he perhaps wanted to do a team battle, and he quickly chased after, accepting that whatever happened couldn't be changed, and keeping in touch would be all he could do for his friends that weren't here now. Whatever void they left could be filled with the help of the others. So now, he wanted to just have fun while he was here.

**The end...**


End file.
